Dental articulator



March 11, 1941. E. L. STEIN 2,234,881

DENTAL ARTICULATQR Filed Oct. 5, 195a fi'giz;

Patented Mar. 11, 1941 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application October5,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in dentalarticulators,such as plain and anatomical articulators, the object beingto provide an articulator so constructed that the bite may beimmediately corrected without the necessity of removing either modelfrom the articulator, thereby saving a great deal of time and material.

Another object of my invention is to provide an articulator soconstructed that a movement is obtained to correct the bite by allowingeither side to be raised or lowered independent of and without affectingthe position of the opposite side of the bite.

The front and back positions (anterior and posterior) may be raised andlowered without affecting opposite front or back to be maintained.

Another object of my invention is to provide an articulator in whichthere is a lost motion between the two jaw supporting members, meansbeing provided for centering the jaw supporting members in the beginningof the operation, two means being provided for adjusting and locking thesame.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will behereinafter set forth and the novel features thereof defined by theappended claims.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a dental articulatorconstructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a detail end elevation; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the various parts for allowing themembers to move and swing in respect to each other.

In the drawing l and 2 indicate the upper and lower jaw supportingmembers which are provided with apertured plate portions 2' and 3 toreceive plaster of Paris or the like to form a support for theartificial models or jaws: 4 and 5 o-n'which the upper and lower teeth 6and 6' are set in wax.

The lower jaw support member I is provided with a pair of upwardly andrearwardly extending arms 1 and 8 connected together by a bar 9 carryinga stop screw Ill. The free ends of the arms I and 8 are provided withthreaded bores in which are mounted threaded bearin pins II and I2provided with conical points seated in conical sockets l3 formed in theend of an oblong square block l4 provided with a transverse bore inwhich is secured a threaded 1938, Serial No. 233,503

bolt [5 on which is loosely mounted a clamp bar l5 and the aperturedlower end of a centering member l6 which is provided with a shoulder llengaging the edge of the cross bar I5 as clearly shown. The bolt l5carries a wing nut l8 for the purpose hereinafter fully described.

Arranged against one face of the block [4 between the block and clampbar [5 is the depending bifurcated end IQ of an angle member which isadapted to be clamped in adjusted position against the block by theclamp bar l5 and wing nut l8 so as to allow the member 20 to move up anddown and sidewise in respect to the block to produce lost motion and asthe block is: pivoted, the member 20 can swing also.

The depending end I9 of the member 20 above the bifurcation is providedwith a threaded base in which is threaded a screw 22 which extendsthrough a slot l6 formed in the centering mem. her It so as to allow thecentering member to 20 move freely on the member 20 and to be clamped inadjusted position by the tightening of the screw 22 and win nut H3.

The member 20 carries a bolt 23 which extends through a slot formed inthe extension 2' of the jaw supporting member 2 and is adapted to beclamped in adjusted position by wing nut 23' carried by the bolt.

In the construction of articulator as herein shown, the lower jawsupporting member carries a pivoted block on which is loosely mounted amember for supporting the upper jaw supporting members and as thismember is capable of moving up and down and sidewise in all directions,a lost motion is obtained so that the bite can be quickly corrected.

In the drawing I have shown one form of articulator but I do not wish tolimit myself to any particular type of arti-culator as my inventionconsists broadly in providing a lost motion 40 to allow the jawsupporting members to move freely in all directions in order to correctthe bite.

It is, of course, understood that when used in connection with ananatomical articulator, the attachment would have to be on the lowerhalf or in a reverse position.

What I claim is:

1. A dental articulator comprising a pair of 50 jaw supporting members,one of said members being provided with a pivotally mounted block, abolt carried by said block, the other jaw supporting member carrying anadjustably mounted angular member having a bifurcated end em- 55 bracingsaid bolt, a centering member mounted on said bolt having a looseconnection with said angular member, a clamp bar for clamping saidangular member against the face of said block, and a wing nut travelingon said bolt for clamping said angular member against the face of saidblock in adjusted position.

2. A dental articulator comprising a pair of jaw supporting members, oneof said jaw supporting members carrying a pivotally mounted block, abolt carried by said block, the other jaw supporting member carrying anangular member having a bifurcated end embracing said bolt, a clamp barcarried by said bolt adapted to engage said angular member, a centeringmember carried by said bolt having a pivotal and sliding connection withsaid angular member, a wing nut carried by said bolt for clamping saidcentering member against said clamping bar and said clamping bar againstsaid angular member and means for locking said centering member inadjusted position.

EDWIN LEROY STEIN.

